This photo, from 2011, shows protesters calling for a DREAM ACT during for President Obama’s visit to Austin (Photo by Todd Dwyer)
On Monday, Gallup released its latest immigration poll, and even though the organization’s lead finding was that 60% of Americans are against the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, it also said that 81% of Americans favor a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals “if they meet certain requirements over a period of time.”
Gallup noted that in 2016, when President won the presidential election, 84% of Americans favored a pathway to citizenship.
In addition, Gallup said that 61% of Americans oppose the deportation of all undocumented individuals in the country. The 2016 figure was 66% of Americans who opposed this.
However, Gallup also noted this about immigration levels in the country:
“Since Trump’s election, the proportion of Americans wanting to increase immigration levels has grown—from 21% in June 2016 to a record-high 30% now.
The percentage of Americans who want immigration levels decreased has been higher than those wanting it increased in every one of the 33 polls Gallup has conducted on the issue since 1965. However, the current one-point gap ties with the June 2018 poll for the smallest ever. Before Trump’s election, the percentage preferring a decrease in immigration averaged 31 points higher than the percentage wanting an increase.”
As for what this all means, here is what Gallup concluded:
“Most of the cards at this point seem to be in the hands of the Democratic negotiators, fresh off their victory over Trump on the government shutdown faceoff. The public is solidly against the expansion of the border walls and remains sympathetic toward immigrants in the country illegally. Both of these views seem to match previous Democratic proposals at a time when Republicans are unable to agree on how to handle immigration. Therefore, it is not hard to envision an outcome that will please far more Democrats than Republicans.”
Here are the findings:
